Great America features over 40 rides and attractions, with Gold Striker among its most notable, which has ranked as a top wooden roller coaster in the world in the annual Golden Ticket Awards publication from Amusement Today.

[8][9] A third park was initially planned for the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area,[8] but the idea was later abandoned after several failed attempts to sway local opposition.

Caz Development then sued the city and Marriott in the Superior Court of Santa Clara County to block the transaction.

Caz Development settled and was allowed to build a hotel and office near the park, which the city renamed Great America.

Kings Entertainment Company, who owned and operated other amusement parks, was hired in 1985 to manage Great America for the city.

[19] Despite having a license agreement in place to retain Nickelodeon and Paramount branding for several years,[20] Cedar Fair opted to remove them sooner.

[21] The following season, Cedar Fair renamed it California's Great America in recognition of the park's original name.

On September 19, 2011, Cedar Fair confirmed reports that California's Great America would be sold to JMA Ventures, LLC for $70 million in cash.

Cedar Fair, which purchased the park in 2006, expected to use the cash proceeds from the sale to reduce its senior secured debt.

[24] In the same announcement, Cedar Fair also verified that a long-term agreement was reached with the San Francisco 49ers regarding parking and construction of a new stadium adjacent to Great America.

[25][26] Cedar Fair purchased the land beneath Great America from the city of Santa Clara in March 2019.

[1] The city retained the main parking lot in sale, which is shared between Levi's Stadium and Great America.

In June 2022, Cedar Fair announced the sale of the land occupied by California's Great America for $310 million to Prologis, a Bay Area logistics real estate company.

[32][33][34] Cedar Fair stated that the sale will help them lower the company's corporate debt to $2 billion, adding that they intended to close the park by 2033.

[4] After Marriott sold the Gurnee park to the Six Flags corporation, the rights to the Looney Tunes characters passed along to them, and the 1984 season was their final one.

[41][42] Following the acquisition of the KECO parks by Paramount Pictures, the Hanna-Barbera characters would remain under a licensing agreement with Turner.

After the park was acquired by Cedar Fair(now Six Flags), who held a license for Peanuts characters, the child-themed area was rethemed as Planet Snoopy.

[47] In aerial photographs, the central service corridor in the Santa Clara park is visible as a straight road running almost directly north–south, terminating under the Patriot roller coaster.

At the park's opening in 1976, there were five themed areas:[8] From the main entrance, visitors enter Celebration Plaza (originally Carousel Plaza); proceeding clockwise (turning left after passing Carousel Columbia), the themed areas are:[48] The entrance to the South Bay Shores water park is in All American Corners, near the bridge to Planet Snoopy.

[49][51][48] All American Plaza was formed by consolidating Yankee Harbor, Yukon Territory, and the southern portion of Orleans Place.

Endeavor) Looping Starship ride and lighthouse; another covered bridge led from Yukon Territory to County Fair,[52] which is now part of Action Zone).

[48] The signature rides in Yankee Harbor and Yukon Territory were the interlocking log flumes, which shared the same space on the east side of the park and had an entrance in each areas, flanking The Revolution and lighthouse.

[51] The expansion of South Bay Shores in 2019–20 annexed a portion of All American Corners, including the lighthouse replica that was next to The Revolution/HMB Endeavor.

Transportation within the park was provided by the perimeter railroad, which had one station in Hometown Square adjacent to Carousel Columbia connecting to a second station in County Fair where the Psycho Mouse roller coaster is today, and also by the trolley system, which ran in a square loop around the eponymous square in front of the Great America Theater, routed via Carousel Plaza through Orleans Place, where it terminated in another loop near where the Flying Eagles ride is today.

The original Fort Fun was a 1 acre (0.40 ha) area for children located in the center of the park, accessible only by footbridges over water from Yukon Territory.

[80] Fast Lane is a system where in addition to a standard admission charge, visitors can purchase a wrist band.

Halloween Haunt was a seasonal event at California's Great America, that began in the fall after the park has transitioned to weekend-only operation.

[90][91] Writer Steven E. de Souza originally wrote the story as more "Die Hard in a theme park".

To film the exterior scenes, the motors of the Triple Wheel were left unpowered; instead, to ensure the ride did not move too quickly, some cages were loaded with sandbags to unbalance the mechanism.

The "aliens" featured in the ride are suited actors (and not animatronic as suggested in the film) that closely resembled the Cylons from the original Battlestar Galactica.